In the winter of 1890, Caroline Webster Schermerhorn Astor, the undisputed queen of New York society, stood at the window of her mansion on Fifth Avenue and looked out at the most beautiful view money could buy. To the south stretched the avenue she had helped make fashionable. To the north lay the homes of … Read more
On July 2, 1863, a rocky hill two miles south of Gettysburg nearly changed the course of the American Civil War. Today, a bronze statue of a man with binoculars stands atop that hill, staring down at a valley his own army almost lost. Millions of visitors climb Little Round Top every year, certain they … Read more
They were among the most feared resistance fighters of the Second World War, men and women who showed no mercy in their actions. The French Resistance fought alongside the Allies after D-Day and contributed greatly to the liberation of their country. But under German occupation, they faced brutal treatment, including torture and execution, if they … Read more
For 73 years, Buckingham Palace called the marriage of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip the greatest royal marriage in the nation’s history. But across those seven decades, four women found their names tied to his, and not once did the palace step forward to clear a single one. A showgirl waited 55 years for … Read more
On April 11, 1996, a small red-and-white Cessna struggled into the sky above Cheyenne, Wyoming, through a storm that should have kept it on the ground. Within seconds, the plane stalled, banked sharply, and plunged into a residential street less than a mile from the runway. Killed instantly were Jessica Dubroff, seven years old; her … Read more
In the winter of 1999, teenage vandals broke into the vacant lodge that crowned the highest point in Oakland County, Michigan. What happened that night reduced a seventy-six-year-old monument to American industrial royalty to rubble and ash. When morning came, the walls that had sheltered the Ford family were gone. Only the stone chimney remained, … Read more
Early in the making of the Andy Griffith Show, Andy Griffith faced a choice that would define the series. He was the proven star, the name above the title. The natural arrangement was obvious: Griffith would deliver the jokes and the actors around him would provide support. Then Don Knotts entered as Deputy Barney Fife—nervous, … Read more
Le général quatre étoiles se tenait devant la porte de mon appartement, baigné par la lumière d’un soleil d’hiver. Ses cheveux blancs brillaient comme un feu d’argent sous la visière de sa casquette de marine. Au début, j’ai sincèrement cru qu’il s’était trompé d’adresse. Les hommes de son rang ne se présentaient pas dans des … Read more
En nostanut ääntäni. En lähettänyt yhtäkään vihaista viestiä. En ilmestynyt hänen ovensa taakse vaatimaan selityksiä. Nostin vain puhelimen, soitin asianajajalleni, jonka tunsin kahdenkymmenenkahden vuoden ajalta, ja sanoin neljä sanaa. Martin, aloita prosessi. Sitten lopetin puhelun, kävelin keittiööni ja keitin itselleni kupin kahvia. Seisoin ikkunan ääressä ja katsoin pihallani kasvavaa vaahteraa, joka pudotti lehtiään yksi kerrallaan … Read more
Baby Face Nelson had the least room to maneuver of any outlaw in America that morning. A month earlier, outside the Little Bohemia lodge in Wisconsin, he had shot three lawmen at close range, killing one, a federal agent named W. Carter Baum. Killing a federal agent made surrender all but impossible. His last known … Read more